So let's say that VHS does disappear in a year of so and we are all
obliged to buy DVD. Bad for us, good for the resellers. We've had a
growing number of DVDs in our collection for 3 or 4 years now and we've
been buying DVD whenever possible. On a day to day level my observation
is that DVDs are much more vulnerable to damage by user mishandling than
VHS was which leads to the need to eventually replace the title.

=20

Our collection circulates freely to our campus community (no ILL yet)
and we see lots of frustration on the part of users who get into a film
only to find it start skipping, freezing or otherwise become unwatchable
because the disk has been mishandled. I regularly send batches of disks
to a company here in Washington state called Aural Tech for resurfacing.
It's lots cheaper than replacing the disk but it is a hassle. =20

=20

Though we include a printed form in both our DVD and VHS cases so that
users can report problems it seems most people don't unless something
significant is wrong with it.=20

=20

Frankly we've had a bit of backlash on the part of selectors who have
begun specifying VHS instead of DVD - though this runs counter to our
standing policy.

So let’s =
say that
VHS does disappear in a year of so and we are all obliged to buy =
DVD. Bad
for us, good for the resellers. We’ve had a growing number =
of DVDs
in our collection for 3 or 4 years now and we’ve been buying DVD =
whenever
possible. On a day to day level my observation is that DVDs are =
much more
vulnerable to damage by user mishandling than VHS was which leads to the =
need
to eventually replace the title.

Our collection circulates freely to =
our
campus community (no ILL yet) and we see lots of frustration on =
the part
of users who get into a film only to find it start skipping, freezing or
otherwise become unwatchable because the disk has been mishandled. =
I
regularly send batches of disks to a company here in Washington state called =
Aural Tech
for resurfacing. It’s lots cheaper than replacing the disk =
but it
is a hassle.

Though we include a printed form in =
both
our DVD and VHS cases so that users can report problems it seems most =
people
don’t unless something significant is wrong with it. =

Frankly we’ve had a bit of =
backlash
on the part of selectors who have begun specifying VHS instead of DVD =
–
though this runs counter to our standing policy.